Salicylate Intolerance Podcast

What are salicylates?

Salicylates are naturally occurring chemicals produced by plants that help protect them against disease, and are highly concentrated in various fruits and vegetables, and even some prescription drugs.

 They are a product of a plants own defence system against environmental stress, insects, fungi, and are part of an adoptive defence mechanism to ensure their survival in the wild. 

They usually concentrate under the skin of fruits and vegetables. The amount of salicylic found in the fruit will decrease as they ripen, so the riper the fruit, the less salicylate it will contain. 

When salicylate intolerance occurs, it can cause them to build up in the body and trigger a salicylate sensitivity.

Salicylates in medication

Salicylate sensitivity can also be caused by a reaction to certain medications or foods, including aspirin, ibuprofen, acetaminophen and salicylic acid. In general, they are found in many over-the-counter products, like antihistamines, cold remedies, pain relievers, etc. It may also occur after eating ample amounts of tomatoes and other foods which contain high levels of salicylates. Salicylate intolerance occurs when your body has difficulty breaking down these chemicals.

Salicylates in your daily diet

The confusing thing for many people is that it has nothing to do with how healthy they perceive the food to be. There are minute amounts in pawpaw, pear and red apples, and can be found in extreme amounts in fruits like dried fruits, avocado, cherries, pineapple and many others.

They also found in pretty much all vegetables again to varying degrees. For example, in small amounts in bean sprouts, cauliflower, green beans, and high amounts in capsicum, all tomato products, zucchini, spinach, sweet potato, and again, many others. The only vegetables they’re not found in are white and green cabbage, celery lettuce, and peeled potatoes.

They’re found in many healthy foods, and because they’re so ubiquitous among plant foods, it poses an apparent major issue. On paper, you might be one of those people that’s eating all the right foods, healthy, nutrient dense fruit and veggies. You might also be feeding these foods to kids as well. 

Other healthy foods with high salicylate content include coconut oil and olive oil. These are two of the most commonly used cooking oils to work with, which is fantastic for those who love the health benefits of these oils – not so much if you have a salicylate intolerance. Most herbs and spices used in cooking are high in salicylates. Other foods include almonds, peanuts, macadamias, coconut, oats and barley. 

Getting your head around a salicylate free diet gets complex. A start is to understand what to be wary of is a list of the main foods.

Salicylate food list

• Fruits – all fruits (in varying degrees), except bananas, limes & pears
• Vegetables – all vegetables (in varying degrees) except cabbage (white/green), celery, lettuce and potatoes
• Some oils – especially coconut and olive oil
• Beverages – fruit juices, teas, coffee and flavoured soft drinks
• Processed and canned meats and fish
• Most herbs & spices

They are also synthetically created for use in personal care products like toothpaste, shampoo, medications (e.g. aspirin) and cleaning products.

Salicylates occur in a wide range of foods, in varying degrees. To obtain a full salicylate food list please fill in the form below:

Not only foods! What products have Salicyaltes?

Many everyday products use ingredients that may have high levels of Salicyaltes that cause a build-up in the body and lead to adverse effects.

These are not always apparent from the food labels and product package.

Drug interactions in the ingredients of substances like mental eucalyptus and wintergreen oils, commonly added to toothpastes and mouthwashes.

Medications like aspirin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, which have much higher amounts even than what are found in foods. 

It’s also found in toiletries, perfumes and herbal products. So your entire daily routine can add to a Salicylates build-up in your system.

Not to mention cosmetic medications, environmental substances and foods; you begin to get a picture of how much potential exposure there is.

Salicylate Intolerance & Sensitivity

We’ve used the term salicylate intolerance a few times.

So I guess the most important thing to understand is that a salicylate intolerance is different from having an allergic response to food. 

An allergy is the immune system’s reaction, more specifically, to the protein found within certain foods. 

For example, the gluten part of wheat or gluten allergy, or the casing part of milk products, will drive a dairy allergy, including here the proteins found in dust pollens mould to drive those environmental allergy symptoms. 

Having a food intolerance is technically different, even though the two terms are often brought together, but they’re not the same thing. 

So with food intolerance, there’s no immune system reaction. 

It’s not an immune reaction at all. Rather what’s happening is an effect coming from the chemicals found naturally within the food. 

The salicylate chemicals irritate the nerve endings in different parts of the body, and particularly in the gut, and that is the key difference.

Allergic reactions from the protein part of the food vs. more nerve irritation due to food chemicals. 

But these chemicals can also drive inflammatory chemicals from the gut, which are derived from the immune system. 

Although they are caused differently, it can be a complete nightmare for those with chronic and persistent symptoms, because some individuals diagnosed with food allergies are also prone to desolate intolerances.

So the symptoms can overlap, and it can be difficult to understand what’s going on. 

What causes salicylate intolerance?

Liver enzyme issues

Liver enzymes (namely phenol sulfotransferase-P) and sulphates usually easily break down salicylates.

Therefore, it can lead to a build-up of salicylates in the body when these enzymes are below normal levels. In fact, studies have found that children on the Autism Spectrum have low levels of this enzyme, which can help explain why many of these children tend to have salicylate sensitivity.

Leaky gut syndrome

Leaky gut is a condition where the gut lining becomes porous or ‘holey’, which allows foreign pathogens (like salicylates) to enter the bloodstream.

As we know, salicylates are prevalent in many foods. So, when salicylate particles are allowed to enter the bloodstream repeatedly, it can trigger an immune response and lead to salicylate sensitivity.

Traditional Treatments

A traditional treatment can take about a 3 to 4 week period following a rigorous diet, avoiding foods and the most common food chemicals that cause intolerance symptoms. 

The next phase is to start doing food challenges. One at a time, you slowly bring in foods from each food chemical group. 

For example, if you were trying to uncover a salicylate intolerance, you would slowly bring back small amounts of food one at the time.

The typical story of working with so many clients at our clinic is that they are stuck on the diet for a long time. Months to several years, because their intolerances haven’t been corrected, it’s not a great long term option for most people. 

And although some patients are told their intolerances won’t be permanent, and that tolerance to salicylates will improve, it’s a rare scenario. The elimination diet is great at uncovering what food a client may react to, but it doesn’t tell us why they are reacting to them. 

Because simply avoiding these foods doesn’t necessarily improve tolerance over time. The people we meet at the clinic are stuck going back and forth feeling frustrated. 

It can increase a huge amount of stress and anxiety around such a restricted way of eating.

Parents striving to cater for a family find it a tricky diet to follow. 

So what are some alternative management options? 

How does Natural Allergy Treatment for Salicylate Intolerance work?

Once we uncover what you are reacting to and lay out a management plan for you by addressing one salicylate containing substance at a time using the PAT techniques. 

The vast majority of clients respond positively to PAT, unfortunately not everyone, but for the people it works for, it works by way of positive association. 

Using a chiropractic tool, we stimulate nerve bundles on either side of the spine. These nerve bundles are associated with specific acupressure and meridian points, and are linked to all the major organ systems in the body.

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